The Universal Prophecy
by Charly The Ninja
Summary: It has been four years since the seven year time gap and Team Natsu are all S-Class along with Wendy. After returning from a mission, Natsu is in the infirmary for two days. When Lucy is kidnapped, who are her kidnappers and what do they want? What is the Universal Prophecy? Find out in The Universal Prophecy!
1. Chapter 1

**I know I shouldn't be starting another story but I COULD NOT get this one out and I think it may be my best.. PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE IN FANG OF THE COBRA EVEN IF YOU AREN'T READING THAT…. (though you would enjoy that as well) Enjoy The Universal Prophesy!**

Chapter 1

A soft hand touches my cheek, wiping away a tear I didn't realize was there. My small hand reaches for those warm, familiar hands. After a while, the bigger hand lets go and puts its palm on my forehead. A blinding light, then paling lips moving. I can't hear the words, but I nod. A crystal perfume bottle filled with an azure blue substance is given to me. I look down at it then back at the blurred face. The lips move again and I nod once more. My hands move on their own and take the stopper from the bottle. The fragrant liquid, which I somehow know isn't perfume, enters my mouth with an amazing sugar taste. Nothing feels different, but the now blue lips form a small smile before a gasp escapes them and the chocolate colored eyes grow dim. I can feel myself sobbing, see the tears dropping to the floor, but everything is eerily silent. A petite hand gingerly takes my shoulder and leads me from the room.

I wake up.

I realize it was only a dream of a memory. The memory of when I obtained the sugar tasting azure liquid that I take every morning and night, as I have ever since I was little. A small sigh escapes the figure next to me. I remember I'm on a mission with my team. It's been four years since that fateful day on Tenrou Island, when we came home from our seven years asleep and lost.

Looking to my left, I see the person I'm sharing my tent with and the person I trust with my very life. Another sigh escapes him along with the word, gently spoken, "Luce". I snuggled closer to him and look at his angled face. The small cut on his chin he gained from our S-Class mission to defeat a tribe of Vulcans was healed thanks to Wendy. It left only a thin scar. I looked at his toned chest and abs, all the scars of missions together, and some, visible as only white lines.

A gruff, "like what you see?" snapped my head up to see loving and playful eyes watching me.

"Yeah", I calmly said, instead of lightly smacking his arm like I normally would. He snorted, but hugged me tight before saying, "We'd better go see if the others are up. Otherwise Erza might think we've run off."

I shivered. The last time Erza had thought we were doing… something, she had almost, ALMOST, brutally murdered Natsu. Standing up and stretching would be an amazing feat in our tiny tent, but I was used to it. I pulled on white shorts and a sky blue tank top, adding my shining collection of thirteen golden keys, nine silver keys, and a small crystal bottle on a string to my black leather belt. Putting what looked like a simple metal pen sized pipe, that was actually my fleuve de`etoiles, on the other side of the belt. We both exited the tent to see Wendy and Erza around a fire, roasting a bird of some kind.

I took the seat on one of the logs around the fire next to Wendy. "Ohayo, Lucy-nee."

"Ohayo, Wendy-chan. What's for breakfast?"

"Eto.. Erza what _is_ for breakfast?"

"It is meat. Thus, it is breakfast." We said nothing else. A couple more minutes of awkward silence later and Wendy deemed it ready. As I reached out to get a leg before Natsu took it all, the glare off of something shiny caught my eye. I looked down and saw the crystal bottle that I had dreamt of. Taking it in my hand, I remembered I hadn't yet taken the liquid. After popping the topper off, I lifted it to my mouth and drank all of it. For some unknown reason, it seems to replenish itself after an hour. The maids of my childhood had told me it was a renewal spell.

"Ne, Lucy-nee, what is that?" All eyes turned to me (when did Gray come back?!).

"I've never seen that, either." Natsu stated, peering at it closely. The others mumbled their agreement.

"Oh, this is my medicine, or so that's what I've been told. I've taken it ever since I was a child. I don't actually know what it's for but it tastes like pure sugar. I guess I never thought about telling you guys because it's such a habit I hardly notice I take it. I've never gone a day without taking the liquid in here."

Natsu, still being the immature guy we all know and love, immediately said, "Can I have some? I wanna see what it does! I wonder if it would make me stronger. Or maybe it will give me wings! Or, or, or it'll give me an endless supply of meat and fire whiskey!"

"Um, Natsu if it doesn't do any of those things to me, I doubt it will for you." He pouted and sulked back to the fire. Wendy, Erza, Gray, and Charla stayed where they were while Happy went to comfort the Fire Dragon Slayer.

"Who gave it to you?" "My mother." "Oh, sorry." "It's fine. I know she's watching over me with my Papa." "Oh Lucy! You had such a horrible life! Please, punish me!" "Eto, Erza I doubt my childhood could even compare to yours.." "Punishment, princess?" "Virgo, when did you come out? Is it because you heard the word 'punish'?" "Yes, I'm terribly sorry. Punishment, Princess?" "Virgo, go back to the Spirit World." "Yes, Princess." "Ne, can we eat now?" "Oh, yeah, gomen."

The five of us made our way back to the fire only to see Natsu stuffing his face with our "breakfast". _THUD!_ Erza's armored fist came down over Natsu's poor, suffering head, effectively knocking him unconscious as well as gifting him with a shining bump.

After face-palming, I suggested, "Why don't we just continue to the guild and get something there? It's only like a forty-five minute walk from here." They all nodded and Happy picked up Natsu's limp body.

It was evening when I finally headed home from the guild. Natsu would be in the infirmary for a couple days from the anger blow Erza dealt him. Stepping through the door, I saw the grandfather clock announcing twelve o'clock. I looked to the crystal bottle and downed the liquid before the twelfth chime. It had been drilled into me to make sure I take the liquid at least twice before midnight. Morning and evening just made the most sense so that was my schedule.

After pulling on my ultra soft pajama pants and a black undershirt I sometimes used for a sleeping shirt, I snuggled into my bed. It seemed my bed was now permanently warm due to the many nights Natsu snuck in, though it felt empty. I frowned slightly, but remembering my birthday was tomorrow I smiled again, falling asleep to the sound of my window opening and a weight coming onto my bed. I smiled bigger, knowing he wouldn't stay down for too long.

A hand pulled back the sheets. Another lightly touched my shoulder, before grabbing it harshly. My eyes snapped open, this wasn't right. A calloused, unfamiliar hand clamped over my mouth. I heard a small murmur before my whole body froze in a binding spell. I saw my keys on the table by my door. Closing my eyes, I telepathically called to my spirits, a trick I learned over the years. Opening my eyes expecting to see the glow of Regulus or the clean chains of Virgo, I instead looked into empty space. Why wasn't it working?! I called again and again. Nothing happened. I saw the hand on my shoulder had left a cancellation rune. Dirty trick, moron.

There were three captures dragging me towards my window. One took me in his arms roughly and I saw tousled long grey hair. My head fell to the side and I saw another head, this one with cloud-white long locks. The third figure came behind me and towered over my low head. Clouds moved from in front of the moon to reveal relatively dull orange locks coming down to a little below the figure's ears. A hand came above my forehead and lightly touched me. Everything turned black.

I awoke to wind rushing past my ears and something unbelievably warm underneath. Looking down, I saw orangeish-red scales beneath my blurring eyes. I looked to my left and saw inky blackness but a dark grey shape came into focus after concentrating a bit. Looking to my right, I saw a mix of white and blue. I groaned and laid on my back. It was obvious I was flying on some sort of airship. Maybe I was being captured by three small dark guilds teaming together. They must be pretty small to have nowhere to put their prisoners but on the top of their ships. Maybe they didn't care if they fell off. Regardless, I may as well enjoy the view of the constellations while I have it. My eyes began to drift shut and a fell asleep once more to the comfortable warmth beneath me and the wondrous view of my friends above.

A thud started to wake me up. I assumed my team had broken in again. Until I remembered that three dark guilds had kidnapped me. I jolted awake to find myself in the grey haired man's arms again. He held me tighter to keep me from falling out of his arms. He snorted and continued walking again. It was just barely dawn so I couldn't yet fully see his face. After walking for around fifteen minutes, he roughly sat me down on rock in a dark cave.

A voice came from the darkness saying, "Now, now, Met. No need to get rough." It was a man's voice, the guy with orange hair I presumed. I now knew the grey haired guy was called Met. I looked at what I had. Still dressed in the same pajamas from the night before, I realized I didn't have my keys or whip…or medicine. If I wasn't saved today and back in time before midnight…well I honestly didn't know what would happen. I guess I could skip a day.

A petite hand grabbed my shoulder, turning me not forcefully but not exactly gently. Kind of like how Erza would've turned me. A motherly voice came from the body attached to the hand, "Don't worry about Met and El. They do this all the time." It was then I realized the familiar sounds of punches being thrown and grunts of being hit were resonating around the cave. "My name's Andi. Yes, I know it's a guy's name but I'm proud of it." I could feel the smile accompanying that sentence. Deciding I should make nice with at least one of them, I started a conversation, "I like it. Can I ask, though, why I'm here?"

"Oh, you'd have to talk to El and he's kinda busy right now. He's the one that devised all this. Personally, I think his idea was a little over the top, what with coming to a remote island, waiting for the others in an underground cave for two days, and then finally going to the guild. Geez, we could've literally caught a train and been at the guild in like a day. This is just ludicrous."

"I can hear you, ya know!"

"That's the whole point!"

"The reason I, Omph! (the sound of him being punched), chose to do all this is, Oww, Met, you moron!, is because that guild has those three dragon, take this!, slayers!"

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I swear, if you two start using magic attacks, I'm going to have to get involved!"

The sounds of fighting stopped and I couldn't help but giggle a little at the fact that Met and El reminded me of Gray and Natsu being stopped by Erza, though Met's personality was a little rougher than Gray's. It was then I realized I didn't mind being with my captures. They didn't chain me or restrain me which means they must be strong, but they felt comfortable to be around, not intimidating. The fact that they hadn't restrained me and were talking so openly with me continued to bug me, though. I couldn't stop myself from asking after a while of hearing them arguing like siblings or an old married couple.

"Can I ask a question?"

"What is it, Lucy?" Andi turned her attention from intimidating Met and El to me.

I shifted uncomfortably then asked, "Why don't you guys keep me restrained or something? Why do you talk so openly around me, too? I mean aren't you afraid I might run or tell someone about you guys or…?"

There was a small pause before they all laughed and Met gruffly said, "Girl, you could try running, but trust me, you wouldn't get far."

"So that's it? You guys are just gonna keep me here for how long?"

"We already answered that. We're waiting a couple days before the rest of our clan- I mean guild, gets here."

"Wait, you were going to say clan? Are you guys like some magical Natives or something?"

"Ehhhhh…. Something like that…" Andi drew. We left it at that and sat in silence until El awkwardly stood and spoke, "I'm gonna go get some food. Met? Andi? Lucy? What do you guys want?"

"I'll take a double cheeseburger with everything on it and an extra large fry with a large Coke..", Met sarcastically replied.

"Okay I'll be on my way to McDonalds now." El huffed, "I'll get a few rabbits and a deer or two if I can find one."

I almost choked on my own spit. "Are you serious? Deer and rabbits?"

Andi laughed, "Well, we sure as heck aren't going to have onigiri and sake! We're on a remote island with wild animals, so the wild animals are what we're having for meals."

"I-I guess I should be used to eating wild animals and such from the missions I took." I mumbled. Apparently hearing me, Andi said perkily, "Now that's the spirit! Well, off you go El!"

El left the cave mumbling about being a servant and having to do everything around here.

"What time is it anyway?" I asked.

"Hmm…It's about one o'clock."

"In the afternoon?"

"No, actually in the morning.."

Crap, I hope missing a day on that medicine doesn't do anything.

I woke up about five hours later. Something felt…off. I looked around the now familiar cave and saw it was lighter. I got a good look at the still sleeping captures. Met had an angled face and dusty grey hair. He looked to be about six feet. I hadn't seen his eyes and couldn't now because he was still sleeping. El was sleeping next to Andi, not as close as Natsu and I slept but close enough for me to suspect that they had something going on. El's rusty orange hair was below his ears with a shaggy cut. He was lean and had a smaller frame than Met but was still tall enough to be intimidating. Next to him, Andi's white flowing hair stood out in the lighter darkness. She looked to be as tall as Bisca and had about the same sized chest as her, too. Their breathing was louder, but I guess that's from it echoing off the cave walls. When I noticed one of the three sleeping people had awoken behind me, I spun on my heel, almost flying off my feet. I looked up to meet red eyes.

"Met", I breathed.

"Who did you think it was?"

"Some weird person who just so happened to wander into this humble cave of ours?" I replied tentatively.

"Hmph, that's what I would've thought, too." He said sincerely. I almost let out a small giggle to his seriousness.

"What time is it, now?"

"Around six o'clock, a little before sunrise."

I was taken aback, "Why is the cave light, then? It wasn't even this bright in the middle of the afternoon!"

He only smirked and secretively said, "So it has begun."

"What has?! Tell me!"

"Ahh, just go back to sleep, girl."

I stepped back, finally seeing who exactly Met reminded me of.

"Gajeel.." I whispered to myself. His head turned sharply, although there was no way he could've heard me unless he was a…. dragon…slayer? He shook himself and a small frown made its way to his face. Those red eyes, and grey hair…could it be? Met….Metallicana…

"Oh my god…Met…are you-"

"Go to sleep, girl." He harshly commanded. I defiantly nodded, stepping forward and said, "Yup, you definitely are him. You remind me a lot of Gajeel. And I presume El is Igneel and Andi is Grandine?"

At their names Igneel and Grandine awoke with "huh?" and "Whatda' ya want Metallicana?" They looked at me and paled considerably.

"Yes, she figured it out." Metallicana said with his hand over his eyes.

Grandine stood first and stretched as if it were a normal day. Finally fitting two and two together, I realized what I thought were airships were actually dragons. Apparently I was riding on Igneel that night, which explains the comfortable warmth that felt so much like Natsu's. I was thinking of asking the obvious 'why'd you leave' but decided they would be expecting that.

"So will you tell me why I'm really here?"

Grandine answered nonchalantly, "Your mother's request."

"My mother's– you knew my mom?"

"Yes. She said 28 years ago, yesterday, which I believe was your birthday, to take you when you were twenty one. Granted that time skip threw us for a loop. We obviously couldn't just suddenly take you from the island because that would be incredibly suspicious so we decided that when you looked and technically were twenty one we'd take you to fulfill the prophecy."

"Prophecy? What are you talking about?"

"The Universal Prophecy? I do believe it was told to you as a bed time story when you were a child?"

"Y-yes, how did you know though?"

"Dear, I was one of the people working at your mansion undercover. Do you remember Ms. Ita? That's me. The reason I left before you could fully remember me is because your mother, who at the time was the Universe Key, had requested me to mentor Wendy."

"Oh my god. You have no idea how many chocolate milkshakes it took for Mrs. Spetto to calm me down when she told me you couldn't tell bed time stories any more."

We both laughed. A *ahem* from Igneel told Grandine she needed to hurry it along.

"Right, so about the Universal Prophecy, do you still remember it?"

"Of course, it was my favorite! It told of a young princess whose mother became ill and died. On her twenty-first birthday, an all-powerful being named Gim took her away to become the Ruler of the Key otherwise known as the Universe Key. This person held the Key that could do almost anything. It was used to vanquish evil, help the good, and make everything just. Nobody knew what the Key looked like only the Ruler of it. They say the actual Key was the Ruler themselves, thus the name the Universe Key. This young princess was destined to change the world forever. She was required to awaken her power and destroy the Ruler of Death and the Underworld. After doing so, she was to appoint a new, fair leader to guide the Underworld into repentance so the souls wandering that plain may pay off their debt. Along the way, though, sacrifices would be made and friends could be lost."

Grandine smiled. "You see, boys, I told you she wouldn't forget."

"So this clan you were speaking of earlier…It's actually the dragons' clan and kingdom?"

"In a way, but it's more of a pathway TO the kingdom."

I nodded, understanding. Remembering a question I had earlier, I asked, "So this medicine that I've had to take…does that have anything to do with this?"

Grandine was the quickest to reply, I suppose because she IS the dragon of healing and such, "I'm glad you asked! Yes, it was to delay your power from coming forth before it was time. I thought you should also know a tiny detail."

I motioned for her to continue. "Both your parents were dragons."

I stared at her until what she said kicked in. "W-what? I mean because my mom was apparently the not-really-a-legend Universe Key, I could see her being one, but my dad? What were they of?"

Igneel and Metallicana gave me blank looks. I sighed impatiently, "What kind of dragon were they?"

Their mouths made an "o" and I just nodded. Metallicana answered this time, "Your dad was the Dragon of Trade and Contracts. Although, after your mother died, as you saw when you were young, he worked himself to the bone. What he was doing, though, was losing track of his railroad business busing himself in finding out if your mother somehow ended up in another dimension like Edolas, but we all knew she was gone. Your mom on the other hand was the Dragon of the Universe. She refused the title of Queen and handed the royal line to the stuck-up Dragon of Time. He's a pain, but for the time we've been stuck on the Earthland plain because of your mother's death, he's been alright."

I couldn't keep it from coming out because I had to ask, "Why did you guys leave your kids?"

Igneel smirked. "I knew this would come up eventually…Queen Layla, despite what Metallicana just said most still called her Queen, was the only being capable of opening passages to the other dimensions and plains. So when she died, all the dragons were here for a festival we've enjoyed for hundreds of years. The passages were closed and the mentoring dragons were ordered by the Time Dragon to gather so we could try to figure out a way back. Unfortunately, we haven't come up with anything besides wait for your time to come. After having been away for about a year by the time we came to our final decision, we knew we couldn't go back so we chose to continue to watch our kids grow from the sidelines."

I was almost crying at all this talk of my mother and father and the reason the dragons left, but if the information I just learned is true then I have to learn to stay strong and hold it in. I sat up straighter and said, "Well, since my parents were dragons then that must mean I'm a dragon, too." The three smiled (well, Metallicana kind of smirked). Turning to Grandine I asked in the strongest voice I could muster, "Please teach me how to…do whatever it is that changes… and such." I slowed, confused on what would actually happen to me if I were to somehow turn into a dragon. "I suppose that medicine was keeping me human and dulling my senses?"

"Yeah, that's why the cave seemed brighter this mornin'" Metallicana said, "We just had to get you away from it for a full day then the process of bringing back your dragon side would begin."

I smiled, "Cool."

**This may be one of my best stories yet.. Hope you liked it! Please review and tell me out of The Universal Prophecy, Fang of the Cobra, and Twisted Dragon! I'm only continuing TWO! RATE THEM FROM MOST FAVORITE TO LEAST! I while most likely keep all three and update them by your rankings..**

**THANKS!**

**Charly The Ninja**

**~(-.-)~Nin-Nin~(-.-)~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hullo! So Thursdays, Tuesdays and weekends are my updating days! I just happened to be able to fit in a chapter tonight.. If I don't update on those days.. PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! lol I know you won't cuz you wub me too much :)*cough* narcissist *cough* Anyways.. hope you enjoy the second installment of...**

**THE UNIVERSAL PROPHECY**

Chapter 2

A soft hand touched my cheek, wiping away a tear I didn't realize had fallen. I brought my small hands to the bigger one, wanting to feel the softness one last time. The hand moved to my forehead and a blinding flash of light surrounded us.

Now that I knew who had "kidnapped" me, and why, I was genuinely fine being here with them. Although, it worried me that we hadn't seen the guild, yet. Unfortunately, I've been kidnapped for money, power, and an assortment of other things after the Grand Magic Games "incident". It literally took all of three hours for everyone to find where I was. Now it had been two days on this island with no sight of anyone. Even if I was comfortable around them, I still had to work up the nerve to ask, "I know this sounds whiney and weak, but they would normally be here by now."

Grandine only chuckled, "There's a spell on you house to make everyone think you're just home sick. It has sealed every entrance so it would take some pretty powerful magic to get in. More powerful than Natsu, or any S-Class mage!"

I sighed, at least they wouldn't think something horrible had happened to me. I still felt pretty bad about lying though. Today was the first day they would let me out of the cave. After being stuck in there for two whole days, I was aching to explore the wooded island. Also over these two days, my senses have multiplied considerably. That medicine was definitely doing its job now that I see what it was keeping at bay. I've cut my lips a few times on my extra sharp canines while eating. Speaking of eating, I now eat about three times the amount I used to. Geez, no wonder Natsu was so messy when eating. The hunger for more almost negated my need for order and manures!

As I made my way up to the entrance of the cave, I took many turns, and I as I took those turns, I realized what was leading me. The scent of fresh air that had apparently been engrained in my memory even with my human senses. The light hit me first. I almost stumbled back. The light was as bright as if I were staring straight into the sun. Behind me I heard Metallicana chuckle then groan when the light hit his eyes. I guess being holed up with me took its toll on him and Grandine, seeing as she gasped when she set foot outside. Igneel was the only one who didn't react. I suppose it was because he had been coming out to get food every day so he was more used to it.

After the three of us had recovered enough to continue walking, Grandine struck up a conversation, "So what do you want to do first? Learn how to bring out your dragon side, learn more about the Universal Key, or do you want me to call the guild?"

I weighed my options carefully. Even if I wanted so desperately to bring out my dragon, I also wanted to know more about my destiny. Even if I wanted to do that, I also wanted to get to know the people who would be counting on me. Taking a deep breath, I decided what was best, "I'd like to learn more about The Universal Key and its Prophecy."

I heard Metallicana and Igneel groan. I stifled a laugh knowing at least one of them would do that. Grandine smiled and said, "Now that's Layla's daughter." I smiled.

Grandine and I told the boys to go hunting and entertain themselves in some way. We wandered a little before finding a crystal clear stream next to a small meadow filled with lavender and high grass. We walked along the stream until find an old oak tree with a low hanging branch perfect to sit on and discuss one's destiny.

After settling down an the base of the branch, with Grandine swinging her legs before me, I started, "So I know I'm the Universal Key and the Prophecy refers to me, but how do I know what the key is and how to use it?"

"Now, Lucy, I don't have all the answers so I need you to understand that before I answer this." I nodded. She nodded. "Okay, so the Universal Key is normally something you're close to, something you can't live without. It could be an object, place, or emotion. As for how to use it, it obviously depends on what it is. All Universal Keys come with the basic "opens portals, does good, defeats evil" kind of powers. Depending on what the Key is determines its extras. For example, if the Key is weather, then the Universal could wield it to do good and defeat evil as well as creating a whirlpool as a portal and such. Its extras could range from just controlling it to do your will to being able to create new life. Actually it's said the dragons were created by the Universal Key, as were all the creatures of the world. Even Vulcans were supposedly created from the Key. Obviously that Universal must've been a pervert if the emotion of romance was his Key. Anyways, once you figure out your Key, the realization comes with the basic spells and sometimes an extra or two. Along the way, though, you may discover more and more about your Key."

I asked the question that had been bugging me from the start of our little chat, "What was my mom's Key?"

Grandine smiled in a motherly way, "I knew this would come up sooner or later. I'm sorry Lucy, but the Universals don't tell their Key unless they feel the need to. Now your mom might've told someone, your father most likely, but she didn't tell me or the boys as far as I'm aware."

I simply replied with an "oh". She nodded sympathetically. An idea came into my mind that perked me up a bit.

"Well, how about you teach me to release my dragon side and then, when I'm ready, we can fly to the others!" This seemed to cheer her up as well, lifting the depression that hung in the air.

"Good idea. I'll go get the boys. For some reason, I think they'll be a little more fit for this. Plus, it'll cheer 'em up from being stuck her without everyone else. We've all been so close these past many years, yes even Metallicana, that it feels weird to be separated." I nodded and jumped from the tree, Grandine following suit.

We started running through the forest, trying to find the boys when we heard an incredibly loud explosion. I was able to see smoke rising just over the trees. Another crash and bang sounded from that direction. A look of alarm passed between Grandine and me. We dashed as fast as we could through the trees just in time to see...

SUSPENSE...

-_- Metallicana and Igneel fighting over a squirrel. I sighed and Grandine fumed beside me. Tentatively taking a step back, having learned from Erza not to get in a beat downs way, I motioned Grandine forward. She didn't acknowledge me when she stalked dangerously forward to the boys, who were now quaking in fear.

A good ten minutes later, bruised and black eyed faces appeared behind a thick tree, where sounds of muffled screams, cries for help, and threatening growls were heard. A moment after Grandine walked from behind, eyes closed and hands wiping imaginary dust from her knees and shoulders. I shivered before saying, "O-Okay, well let's get started shall we?"

Igneel and Metallicana did their best to smile and nod before grimacing in pain and rubbing their necks and backs. I tried to give and apologetic and reassuring smile, but I think it turned more into a look of fear. Grandine came from behind them and started to explain the basics, "Okay, the first step is pretty easy. Just prepare yourself. Since this is the first time you've transformed it may hurt." I nodded. She continued, "Second step is fairly easy, as well. Just imagine your dragon form. You may think this sounds pretty hard, but your body will know the size, shape, color, and so on. Just let it flow. The third step is the hardest. Transforming. Since this is your first time, and since it's been held back pretty long, it may be hard for your body to know what to do and how. Think of it like you haven't stretched in a long time so your body isn't as comfortable stretching as it used to be." I nodded once more. "Okay let's try it out!"

I relaxed my head, neck, shoulders, arms, chest, abs, legs, knees, ankles, and feet, going from the top of my body to the bottom a couple times before I felt ready. Next, I started to mentally draw a random dragon in my mind. Soon it seemed as if the dragon were drawing itself. It had a curved head with about ten smaller horns on its bones closest to its nose. After, there were five bigger horns and twos long ivory horns stretching from the forehead back to the back of the head. Its eyes were a chocolate brown with bright gold flecks in them. Its scales had a crystal like sheen over a dark golden color. The spine was covered in small bumps that expanded over the back only to reduce once more to the spine as it continued to the fifteen foot long tail that ended in a multitude of sharp points. Its legs were long and graceful. The belly was a dull diamond color. The wings positioned at mid back were bat like and golden. After the image was drawn, I had to keep myself from stopping the transformation just to admire the beauty. Suddenly, I roaring pain hit my mid back. I could feel the bones deforming and stretching the skin to become long and leathery. My legs jutted from underneath me with my arms shot out getting heavier by the minute. It was at this time I felt my tail bone stretching to that amazing length and forming the many points at the end. Along with my tail bone, I felt my head become heavier and my neck extend to carry the weight. My nose and mouth jutted forward and my eyes became bigger and longer. I felt every bump and horn and point of my body.

When I opened my eyes, I saw six figures. Three were standing over me smiling (well one was smirking). There were three behind them, as well. Hulking creatures that, after a second I realized were dragons. There was something different. Despite my enhance senses, they looked to glow faintly and seemed almost like a hallucination. Seeing me staring past her, Grandine looked behind her, made and "o" face, and turned back. At first her words seemed hazy, but they finally cleared up, letting me hear, "Those are our dragon spirits. All other dragons who have transformed at least once in their life can see them. It lets other dragons know what we are." I nodded and almost made Igneel fly ten feet away from the small movement of my now gigantic head. I giggled and it come out a low rumble. The others laughed and Igneel said, "In your dragon form you speak telepathically." I almost nodded, again, but instead just dipped my head like I had seen other animals do. Igneel smirked and said, "You learn fast."

When I tried to smile, glistening teeth were shown with razor sharp edges bound to tear apart flesh in a heart beat, unless of course that flesh was covered in scales such as I was. I tried to imagine a word bubble over my head connected with a word bubble over the other's heads. Then I put words into my bubble and imagined them flowing though the connecting tube thingie into the three's bubbles. _Can I try to fly now?_ All three seemed genuinely surprised. "Wow, the girl actually figured it out on her own." This was Metallicana. _I have an idea. How about you three transform and demonstrate!_ They looked at each other and simultaneously nodded. Then, stepping away from me and each other, they closed their eyes.

In a split second, three dragons stood before me and three hazy humans stood next to them. I assumed those were the images of their human form. _No fair! You guys can transform so fast!_ They all laughed what sounded like a real laugh and Grandine said out loud, "Well, when you've been doing this for about four hundred years you get pretty good." My head jerked back a bit. _How come you can talk normally?_ "Oh, when you're a dragon you can talk normally to other dragons unless they're in their human form. You have to talk telepathically with all humans, though." I nodded and spoke this time, "Oh, I see." It sounded like my normal voice, but when I giggle at hearing a high voice come out of a huge creature, that low growl like sound came out again. "I guess speaking is normal, but anything else comes out... not normal?" Grandine nodded.

Suddenly, a huge gust of wind came from Metallicana's direction. When my head turned, he was gone. I looked up only to see a giant form hovering above the rest of us. "Come one! We haven't got all day!" He yelled down. Igneel was the next to take off, almost colliding with Metallicana. Grandine looked and me and smiled, "Just let your body do what it feels is right", and she took off. I repeated what she'd said in my head and tried out the muscles in my wings. They fluttered accordingly.

Stretching my wings up into the air and settling my body lower to the ground, I pushed off with a massive thrust of both legs and wings. I soared what felt like a hundred feet in the air. Turning my body to face the ground as if I were going to dive, I let myself fall a little. When I'd gone about fifty feet, I stretched my wings to the side and saw myself gliding through the air. I gave powerful thrusts from my wings when I felt it appropriate. I dipped my right wing a little and felt myself glide to the right turning around to face my companions. I smiled a dragon smile and headed to them.

We were going to leave that night. Over the course of the afternoon I practiced shifting from dragon to human, which was the same process as going from human to dragon, and back again. By the time dinner came, I had it down to shifting in about two minutes, which apparently was normal for anyone worked at it as long as I did, though it still wasn't the mere millisecond Grandine, Igneel, and Metallicana had. After dinner, we waited until it was around midnight and we set off. My dull diamond colored underside made me seem as if I were a cloud or a trick of the light. Metallicana was best covered because of his black underbelly and dark grey body. Igneel's dull red stomach blended him in well enough. Grandine was told that once we got to more civilized parts of the country, she had to go above me because she looked the most natural there.

We flew a good three hours before seeing land. Another hour before we saw city lights and Grandine had to get above me and about two more hours until I saw the familiar hillsides of Magnolia. "Are you serious? Your guild is in Magnolia?" I whispered to the dragon above me. "Just outside it actually", came the matter-of-fact reply. Igneel glided down about 5 miles outside the city line and transformed once he had landed. I did the same and ran over to him afterwards.

"Won't Natsu smell you?"

"Nah, there's a spell cast on all the dragons to change their scent temporarily so that if their apprentice ever wandered by or saw them in town, they wouldn't recognize the scent."

I nodded and continued to follow him through the dense forest. Thanks to my enhanced senses, it seemed as if the sun were overhead instead of just rising over the horizon. A building came into sight after about fifteen minutes of walking. A sign above a rusting gate read Dragon's Keep. "Cute." I commented. Metallicana huffed while I saw the smirk on Igneel's face. Grandine stayed silent behind me. There was a small barn to my left and a relatively large house sized building in front of me. To the right was what looked like sparring grounds, surrounded by scorch marks and chunks of earth missing along with an assortment of other vandalisms. When I fully saw the building in front of me I gasped. It was the building Fairy Tail had used when the S-Class Trial Participants were missing!

Again, I saw the smirk make its way to Igneel's face, now accompanied by the one on Metallicana's face. Grandine just put her hand on my shoulder and nodded. I was so tempted to run inside, but someone made their way out before I could.

I saw the emerald green of the small hazy dragon's scales first. Then its black eyes. Looking to the small figure below it, I saw a man no taller than Romeo with the same emerald green hair and black eyes. He wore a smile and his gleaming eyes showed excitement.

Grandine stepped forward, "Why hello, Horonus. How's the guild been?"

His voice held as much enthusiasm as his eyes, "Oh my gosh it's been wonderful. I'm so excited you're back, though and with young Lucy no less."

Igneel turned partially to me and whispered, "Lucy, meet the Dragon of Time, our current King."

**I hope you enjoyed the second chapter of The Universal Prophecy! I am going to continue this story. I'm just debating the update order between my others so I need your help! :) So far the order is: The Universal Prophecy, Twisted Dragon, Fang of the Cobra, and then The Dragon Slayer's Guide.**

**REVIEW PLEAAAASSSSSEEEEEEEE! Criticism is appreciated!**

**THANKS!**

**Charly The Ninja**

**~(-.-)~Nin-Nin~(-.-)~**


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